Comments on: Why I Love the Interwebs – Chapter I http://blog.ewherrmann.com/2007/10/11/why-i-love-the-interwebs-chapter-i/ examine your mind Fri, 22 Apr 2011 19:20:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Mark Szczerbaniewicz http://blog.ewherrmann.com/2007/10/11/why-i-love-the-interwebs-chapter-i/comment-page-1/#comment-7050 Mark Szczerbaniewicz Fri, 12 Oct 2007 03:12:40 +0000 http://blog.ewherrmann.com/2007/10/11/why-i-love-the-interwebs-chapter-i/#comment-7050 I bet people in the music industry thought this would never work. They probably thought they had it all figured out because of what happened once Napster came out and the rest of the P2P networks spawned from it. "CD sales are down" because of the networks. We are losing money. Basically I think they thought that people where evil and don’t want to pay for music. The public argued and said that they only want a few songs and their answer was per song sales but crippling DRM technology came with it. I bet what Radiohead is doing now is biting them in their corporate asses. Now I bring your attention to this page: http://www.purebuttons.com/pr/ People aren’t evil, and steal from the industry. People are just fed up with having to comply with what the record industry is making them listen to when they buy a CD at an absurd price that someone artificially set. Radiohead’s growing success follows a pretty simple formula. Give the people what they want without restriction, and when they pay make it as transparent as possible. When people see that their contributions to what they like are going to the right hands, they wont care if they pay a premium or not for a song. That value does not exists for them, they feel as if they are funding creativity and not neglecting the creators of their hard earned cash. I bet people in the music industry thought this would never work. They probably thought they had it all figured out because of what happened once Napster came out and the rest of the P2P networks spawned from it. "CD sales are down" because of the networks. We are losing money. Basically I think they thought that people where evil and don’t want to pay for music. The public argued and said that they only want a few songs and their answer was per song sales but crippling DRM technology came with it. I bet what Radiohead is doing now is biting them in their corporate asses.
Now I bring your attention to this page: http://www.purebuttons.com/pr/ People aren’t evil, and steal from the industry. People are just fed up with having to comply with what the record industry is making them listen to when they buy a CD at an absurd price that someone artificially set. Radiohead’s growing success follows a pretty simple formula. Give the people what they want without restriction, and when they pay make it as transparent as possible. When people see that their contributions to what they like are going to the right hands, they wont care if they pay a premium or not for a song. That value does not exists for them, they feel as if they are funding creativity and not neglecting the creators of their hard earned cash.

]]> By: ewH http://blog.ewherrmann.com/2007/10/11/why-i-love-the-interwebs-chapter-i/comment-page-1/#comment-7041 ewH Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:54:39 +0000 http://blog.ewherrmann.com/2007/10/11/why-i-love-the-interwebs-chapter-i/#comment-7041 @Aleks - agreed that it is much easier for groups like Radiohead and NIN because they have already built up a fan base. However, I don't necessarily agree that we still need record labels to "invest money into a potentially profitable venture." In the prewebistoric days(this term yields no google search results, so I hereby claim coinage :)), we needed the middle man to connect us to upcoming artists. This was the easiest path of connection for entertainers and consumers. However, in the current Net global market, this is becoming less and less relevant. There are now plenty of ways for indie artists to get their name out and connect with an audience. We no longer have to rely on some corporate fat cat to tell us what is good or not good. We can now make decisions solely on the art itself. @Kurt - awww yes, I forgot you were a fellow Zuner. :) I did indeed forget about the radio last night, since it's a feature that I rarely if ever use. I totally agree and am pretty pumped about Amazon's move into the space as well. And they aren't even charging a 30 cent premium for DRM free music like Apple. I just hope they can get enough song available to set the standards and rid us from the evil for good. I will not be traveling to Palo Alto as much now, but we should still hook up and talk....still looking forward to doing a cool silverlight project together. Also, congrats on the Blendables release! Cheers, ewH @Aleks – agreed that it is much easier for groups like Radiohead and NIN because they have already built up a fan base. However, I don't necessarily agree that we still need record labels to "invest money into a potentially profitable venture." In the prewebistoric days(this term yields no google search results, so I hereby claim coinage :) ), we needed the middle man to connect us to upcoming artists. This was the easiest path of connection for entertainers and consumers. However, in the current Net global market, this is becoming less and less relevant. There are now plenty of ways for indie artists to get their name out and connect with an audience. We no longer have to rely on some corporate fat cat to tell us what is good or not good. We can now make decisions solely on the art itself.

@Kurt – awww yes, I forgot you were a fellow Zuner. :) I did indeed forget about the radio last night, since it's a feature that I rarely if ever use. I totally agree and am pretty pumped about Amazon's move into the space as well. And they aren't even charging a 30 cent premium for DRM free music like Apple. I just hope they can get enough song available to set the standards and rid us from the evil for good. I will not be traveling to Palo Alto as much now, but we should still hook up and talk….still looking forward to doing a cool silverlight project together. Also, congrats on the Blendables release!

Cheers,
ewH

]]> By: Kurt Brockett http://blog.ewherrmann.com/2007/10/11/why-i-love-the-interwebs-chapter-i/comment-page-1/#comment-7040 Kurt Brockett Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:51:34 +0000 http://blog.ewherrmann.com/2007/10/11/why-i-love-the-interwebs-chapter-i/#comment-7040 Eddie, First off.....nice job on getting to the gym. I know it's a struggle to actually make it part of a routine, especially when travelling for work. Also remember the Zune actually does have a radio built in so you should be good there. I agree with you on the DRM crap. I'm super happy about the RadioHead stuff but even more happy with AmazonMP3 moving into the space. Awhile back I vowed to rid DRM from my media and thus when I purchase songs I burn and rip them back. It sux! but it sux less than being strapped by DRM. Let's grab some lunch soon. I know biz wise things have stalled a little but I'm up for grabbing a brew when you and Dan are free. Drop me an email: kurt(AT_NOSPAM)brockett.net Kurt Eddie,
First off…..nice job on getting to the gym. I know it's a struggle to actually make it part of a routine, especially when travelling for work. Also remember the Zune actually does have a radio built in so you should be good there.
I agree with you on the DRM crap. I'm super happy about the RadioHead stuff but even more happy with AmazonMP3 moving into the space. Awhile back I vowed to rid DRM from my media and thus when I purchase songs I burn and rip them back. It sux! but it sux less than being strapped by DRM.

Let's grab some lunch soon. I know biz wise things have stalled a little but I'm up for grabbing a brew when you and Dan are free. Drop me an email: kurt(AT_NOSPAM)brockett.net

Kurt

]]> By: Aleks http://blog.ewherrmann.com/2007/10/11/why-i-love-the-interwebs-chapter-i/comment-page-1/#comment-7035 Aleks Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:39:44 +0000 http://blog.ewherrmann.com/2007/10/11/why-i-love-the-interwebs-chapter-i/#comment-7035 ... I run music free ;) this weekend planing for a Staten Island Half-Marathon . But going back to your blog, it's much easier for Radiohead and NIN to go without a record label, they already have established their name and don't need any additional promotion from wealthy label companies. But what about an aspiring performer, who is just trying to make his way up, with college loans to pay off and no real job to speak of. While I hate the Stalin-like measures of RIAA and often unfair treatment of the artists by the record labels, historically the importance of the middle man can not be underplayed, it is the middle man that took the chance and invested its money into a potentially profitable venture ... sometimes he failed often succeeded. But most performance we listen to today wouldn't be known if it wasn't for the willingness of a middle man to take a risk. … I run music free ;) this weekend planing for a Staten Island Half-Marathon . But going back to your blog, it's much easier for Radiohead and NIN to go without a record label, they already have established their name and don't need any additional promotion from wealthy label companies. But what about an aspiring performer, who is just trying to make his way up, with college loans to pay off and no real job to speak of. While I hate the Stalin-like measures of RIAA and often unfair treatment of the artists by the record labels, historically the importance of the middle man can not be underplayed, it is the middle man that took the chance and invested its money into a potentially profitable venture … sometimes he failed often succeeded. But most performance we listen to today wouldn't be known if it wasn't for the willingness of a middle man to take a risk.

]]> By: ewH http://blog.ewherrmann.com/2007/10/11/why-i-love-the-interwebs-chapter-i/comment-page-1/#comment-7034 ewH Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:13:30 +0000 http://blog.ewherrmann.com/2007/10/11/why-i-love-the-interwebs-chapter-i/#comment-7034 @Frank - what's this thing called radio you speak of? :) @Frank – what's this thing called radio you speak of? :)

]]>